Blasted Mountain
The Blasted Mountain is a sentient volcano in Raven's kingdom. It was, initially, the last challenge in the first 6 seasons, before the warriors had to the Last Stand. However, it wasn't played all that much in finals week of each season, usually being replaced with another challenge, such as Serpent's Eye, in the case of season 4. Season 1 In Season 1, after the three warriors have completed High Walk in Old Forest, they are automatically transported to Blasted Mountain (also referred to as "Burning Mountain"). Raven describes this place as "full of Demons". The warriors stand at the end of a path, with the end of a rope at their feet. At the other end of the rope, at the end of the path, is a heavy wooden loading pallet with pieces of a grey stone totem head (similar in design to the Moai and Dogu Statues) carefully bound to the pallet by ropes. These heads are the fabled "Stones of Aaron", as Raven calls them. Part 1 - Stones of Aaron When Raven gives the order (when he fears the Blasted Mountain will send Demon's Breath to kill him and the warriors), the warriors are to pull their pallet up the path. If a warrior gets stuck (usually when the other two have got their statue up and untie the ropes), Raven will do the pulling for the warrior lagging behind and help with the ropes. The warrior who got their stone up first would win back a life (this process made the challenge effectively two challenges). Part 2 - Demon's Breath However, by now, the Demon's Breath will be imminent on hitting the warriors, who must now assemble the Stones of Aaron in order to save themselves. When a warrior has built their stone, Raven will tell the other two to abandon theirs, herd all three to the completed stone and shield them with his body whilst the Demon's Breath passes them by. After it has, everybody gets out and the warrior who built their stone first will win back another life (usually, this warrior was the same warrior who won a life back earlier). Trivia * Usually, the warrior who won both games at Blasted Mountain would be the warrior going home after Dark Pools. * When Raven arrives at the Blasted Mountain, we hear the same tune that plays in every variant of the Last Stand, when Nevar appears. * This challenge has also been known as Burning Mountain, Demon's Breath and Stones of Aaron (all tying into artifacts found in this game). Seasons 2-4 In seasons 2, 3 and 4, the Blasted Mountain game was redesigned slightly. It actually appears on the map as an erupting volcano with a stone head nearby, towards the top right corner (as opposed to being a normal mountain somewhere in the bottom right/centre of the map). There are now three different designs of stone head for the warriors to build (one each). The challenge would only begin when the Blasted Mountain (now rendered as a CGI volcano) would erupt. The warriors had to pull up the loading pallet and build the statue (now held on the pallet by a wire cage, as opposed to the ropes used in season 1, and no longer a two-parter game), with lava racing to them all the while. Once one warrior had built their statue, they'd have to hide behind it, whilst the other two were burnt out of existence by the lava. After the lava had gone, a gold ring would be forged by the statue. The winner would be presented with this gold ring, whilst Raven would resurrect the losers and take a life from them. Trivia * The Blasted Mountain would appear in the season 4 opening credits, as part of the animation which shows the warrior symbols falling from the stars. ** Coincidentally, footage from week 2 is also used (the warriors shown are Kinsa, Wilja and Simal). * It was in season 2 that the name for Blasted Mountain was confirmed as Blasted Mountain. Seasons 5 and 6 The concept of using a statue had been discontinued, instead being replaced with a shield ("cut from the Great Oak", according to Raven). The shields are in different colours (red, yellow and purple) and are lighter in weight than the stone statue pieces, but it's harder to assemble, as all the pieces are all the same shape. The correct construction of the shield will show two concentric circles on the front. The new change merited the Blasted Mountain symbol on the map being changed to the mountain being flanked by two shields. Trivia * The footage of Blasted Mountain erupting from the season 4 opening credits was continued here. Season 7 In season 7, Blasted Mountain was moved to the bottom right corner of the map (with season 7 necessitating a new map design), and just shown as an erupting volcano with the words "Blasted Mountain" written under it. It was discontinued as a challenge, but played host to four challenges inside it: The Chasm, Boulder Run, Lava Pit and Stone Soldiers, all of which were played on the Friday of each week. Many Raven ''fans have resented the discontinuation of the Blasted Mountain challenge, though it did somewhat survive in ''Stone Soldiers. Trivia * The entrance to the Blasted Mountain's internal challenges was recycled from the entrance to Spider Tunnel from seasons 1, 2 and 3. Category:Challenges Category:Locations Category:Series 1 Category:Series 2 Category:Series 3 Category:Series 4 Category:Series 5 Category:Series 6 Category:Series 7